FBI investigators climb aboard the “Vision” a sister vessel to the scuba boat Conception to document its layout and learn more about the deadly pre-dawn fire in Santa Barbara, Calif., Tuesday, Sept. 3, 2019. A fire raged through the Conception boat carrying recreational scuba divers anchored near an island off the Southern California Coast on Monday, leaving multiple people dead. Authorities on Tuesday ended the search for survivors. (AP Photo/Christian Monterrosa)

Amid anguish over 34 lives lost in the fire that consumed a recreational diving boat off the Channel Islands this week — one of the worst passenger boat accidents in modern history — a central question lingers: What could have caused such a swift, deadly catastrophe?

Speculation has swirled from overheated lithium batteries in charging cell phones and laptops to enhanced oxygen to prolong dives and electrical wiring.

But as investigators probe the Labor Day disaster, attention is focusing on three key areas: the crew’s actions and training, the boat’s design and construction, and the regulations governing the operation. Did the crew neglect key safety rules? Were escape routes and fire alarms adequate? Why was one federal inspector alarmed by a ship that had passed inspections?

“We still have many more questions than answers,” said Paul Kamen, a Berkeley naval architect and mechanical engineer who has been following the disaster aboard the Santa Barbara-based Conception.

Glen Fritzler, owner of Truth Aquatics, the Santa Barbara company that ran the stricken 75-foot Conception, one of its three boats, said in a Facebook post that he cannot comment because he is working with federal investigators.

“We are committed to finding accurate answers as quickly as possible,” Fritzler, who was not aboard the vessel, said in the post. The company referred questions to John Davies, who said the Fritzlers are “heartbroken” and “devastated” by the tragedy.

The Crew

The tragedy’s only survivors were the boat’s captain and four crew members, whose recollections are key to unraveling what might have happened. The multi-agency investigative team has said little about what those crew members told them.

Divers who have been aboard the Conception described the crew as earnest, safety-conscious professionals. But published reports this week also suggest they may not have followed crucial safety measures — such as having a crew member on night watch.

The Los Angeles Times reported that unnamed sources said to have knowledge of the crew’s accounts indicated none was awake on watch. After passengers went on a night dive earlier in the evening, a crew member tidied up the galley, checked that the stove was off and combustible materials safely stowed and went up to the wheelhouse, located above the boat’s main deck, around 2:35 a.m., the Times said.

About a half hour later, that crewman said he heard a noise, looked down and saw a raging fire on the deck below, while other crew members awoke to a fire already out of control, the Los Angeles Times said.

In a frantic mayday call to the Coast Guard, the boat captain, Jerry Boylan, said “I can’t breathe.” Jennifer Homendy, who is overseeing the National Transportation Safety Board’s investigation, said this week that crew members told a “harrowing story” of flames blocking their access to the passenger quarters and having to jump free of the burning vessel.

But while NTSB investigators indicated the crew did all they reasonably could to help passengers trapped in the tight sleeping quarters below the main deck, law enforcement agencies are investigating as well. Crew members could face criminal charges if authorities conclude that the deaths stemmed from their misconduct, negligence or inattention to duty.

Sean Tortora, a master mariner with 25 years of experience and the author of “Study Guide for Marine Fire Prevention, Firefighting, and Fire Safety,” said crews on smaller craft like the Conception tend to not have extensive marine firefighting training.

The Boat

Conception was the second of three ships designed and run by Santa Barbara charter operator Truth Aquatics, which boasts that they were “specifically designed and built for divers by divers.”

But Homendy and others have expressed concerns about the design.

While many large live-aboard dive boats have metal hulls, the Conception had fiberglass-clad wooden construction, along with tightly-packed wooden bunks in the passenger cabin, some stacked three-deep and end-to-end.

“It was a tinderbox,” Tortora said.

The Conception was carrying 33 passengers and six crew members, less than the capacity of 46 that Truth Aquatics said the vessel could carry. But Gregory T. Davis, a marine consultant in New Mexico, said even that seemed a large number of people for a boat that size.

After touring Conception’s sister ship, the 80-foot Vision, which Truth Aquatics says has the same capacity and similar design, Homendy told the Los Angeles Times that she was troubled by the tight space in the sleeping quarters and difficulty finding the light switches in the dark. She also said she was “taken aback” by the difficulty in accessing the emergency escape hatch, which required climbing up a ladder and crawling across a top bunk to push up a wooden door.

“It would be hard to evacuate 40-some people out of this space if something happened,” Davis said.

What’s more, both sleeping area exits led to the galley, a potential source of fire from cooking equipment, fuels or oils, which crew members found fully aflame. Investigators said those who died were trapped by the flames blocking the exits. Authorities believe they died of smoke inhalation, though autopsy results are pending.

“If you assume a fire originates in the galley,” Davis said, “neither one of the exits would be used.”

The Regulations

The staggering death toll involving a reputable charter operator in a heavily regulated industry left California’s senior U.S. senator dumbfounded.

“It’s inconceivable,” Dianne Feinstein said in a statement after the disaster was reported, “that with all the safety regulations we have in place today, a fire on a boat can lead to the loss of life we saw this morning near Santa Cruz Island.”

The U.S. Coast Guard checks such vessels annually and found nothing amiss in its last inspection of the Conception in February. Inspection records showed the company promptly corrected safety deficiencies when pointed out during previous inspections over the years, and Davis said nothing in the available records stood out as troubling.

But he and others have suggested current regulations may be insufficient.

Among issues Homendy noted, the crew member who first noticed the fire said he heard no fire alarm. The Conception’s sleeping quarters was outfitted with what Homendy described as the type of smoke alarm you would buy at a hardware store. But there was no system that would have triggered an alarm above deck in the wheelhouse.

Tortora noted that unlike large commercial cruise ships, smaller recreational charter boats like the Conception are not required to be built using fire retardant materials or to have firefighting equipment aboard the vessel beyond devices such as fire extinguishers.

“Despite being in compliance, something went horribly wrong and led to this tragic incident,” said Hendrik Keijer, a retired cruise ship captain and master mariner. “The recommendations that come will be of great interest to see what can be done to avoid a recurrence.”

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